Mile Creek Montana

I want to tell you about a trip we made last week to Mile Creek. Dad said for me to hop in the Jeep and we’d go exploring. That’s a fun thing to hear because I like to hang my head out of the window and smell and look at everything around me as we drive. I know that we will stop and I’ll get to run around and explore the smells. I was excited to go.

Mile Creek trail and Henry's Lake Mountains in Montana

Mile Creek is a small creek in a big grassy meadow next to big mountains in Montana, not too far from our RV park in Idaho. On the way, we pass many cow pastures, but sadly there are no cows in them yet. Dad says they will be here soon. They are being driven in large trucks from the south where they spend the winter. (It’s too cold here.) I like to protect Mom and Dad from the cows, so I bark at them. It’s fun to do and it helps Mom and Dad. We also drove to the other side of the big lake near us called Henrys. Dad stopped to see the lake and our RV park very far away from us. Dad said it was pretty. What do I know about pretty? I could smell some nice smells coming from the lake though. (A combination of fish, birds, skunks, last year’s cows and humans. Ah…)

Henry's Lake and the East Centennial Mtns. Our RV Park is at the base of those mountains.

Dad always drives the Jeep slow on our trips so that we can see birds, the cows, the coyotes and other animals. I don’t mind. That way I can keep my head outside the window without getting my eyes wet (like when he drives too fast.)

When we arrived at Mile Creek we had to drive through the water. Water splashed on my face as we drove through Mile Creek since I had my head out the window. It was fun.

Little Mile Creek is fun to play in.

Dad likes to come here because it has a lot of wildflowers. I like to come because Dad is so busy photographing wildflowers that I can run anywhere I like. I like to walk in the creek and splash. The water was running very fast and I tried to catch it. (I couldn’t) There is a trail and it goes up into a canyon high into the Henry’s Lake mountains, but we didn’t walk on that trail today.

Lots of Glacier Lilies for Dad to Photograph along Little Mile Creek.

There are two creeks. Mile Creek and Little Mile Creek. Today Dad said we would follow Little Mile Creek to see if there were different wildflowers. I didn’t mind because it was something new to explore. There was no trail, but I led Dad so he wouldn’t get lost. (I didn’t know where I was going, but I could always smell my way back.)

It's sure fun to wade in Mile Creek.

It was fun to go back and forth across Little Mile Creek. It was small but I liked to jump across it or to splash in it. Dad had to step carefully across the creek because he didn’t like to get his feet wet. My paws were soaked, but I didn’t mind.

I found these bones. Probably the Grizzly Bear forgot to clean up after lunch.

We walked along the bubbling creek, with Dad stopping to photograph flowers and me, well, I was exploring. I found some bones with teeth and barked for Dad to come to me. He came to see the bones. He didn’t know what animal had died but I was scared that I could look like that if I wasn’t careful. Probably some bears had come here to have lunch.

Dad took this photo of the Low Larkspur at Mile Creek.

There were plenty of flowers for Dad. He said there were yellow Glacier Lilies, purple low Larkspur, yellow Arrowleaf Balsamroot, purple Vase Flowers, white Valerian, purple tiny Hooked Violet, yellow Puccon, white and purple Shooting stars, Mountain Goldenrod and much more. To me they are just smelly sweet things. Nature is generous with flowers and their smells. I found some little buzzy bees that Dad warned I should not eat because they will prick my nose or tongue. I agreed but wasn’t sure he was right.

I wanted to bite this Bumblebee but Dad warned me it might prick my nose.

We walked up Little Mile Creek into the trees where the canyon started and then turned around. I had fun running and hiding from Dad in the high sagebrush. He would call for me and I’d come running. He’d give me a treat for coming and I’d do it again. Eventually, he got wise and quit giving me treats.

I had fun chasing this butterfly.

Once, I had fun chasing a white butterfly. He would flit in front of my face and I’d chase it. He could go higher than me so it really wasn’t a fair chase. Once he stopped on the ground and just as I was about to pounce on it, Dad told me to stop. He photographed it instead! I did all the work tiring out the butterfly and he got to have the fun! Not fair!

This storm was headed our way and we soon had to leave.

I played in Mile Creek a while and then Dad said that a rain storm was on its way so we had to go. I wouldn’t mind getting wet all over but Dad says that lightening and thunder would soon be there too and I knew what he meant. I don’t like the loud thunder and bright lights that come out of the dark clouds. I need someplace to hide from them. The car is a good place.

It's sure fun to play in the water.

On the way out, we saw two pronghorn antelope but Dad couldn’t photograph them in time. I think there were afraid of me and they ran. They run real fast. I don’t think I’d even try to catch them. Dad told me they are the fastest land animals in the world. They can run as fast as 60 mph. Whew… I don’t think I could even get close.

This Horned Lark was waiting for us when we left.

Dad was so excited when we left because he saw a Horned Lark bird. It looked like any other little noisy bird to me, but Dad said it was special because it had horns that stuck up and he’d never seen one. I’m glad Dad got some fun too!

If you are one of those humans that like to see wildflowers and other animals, you might read Dad's Nature Blog that he is writing this summer. He's trying to blog about new things that Nature brings our way while we are in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming this summer. See the link below to read his blog. (I think my blog is better, but you can be the judge.)

Dad thinks this Glacier Lily is pretty. I think it is smelly.

Well, come see us at RedRock RV Park this summer and I’ll take you on a exploration trip too. We’ll have fun together. We can even go to Yellowstone National Park (if you don't mind being in the car on on a leash.)

Arf,

Reggie